Half to charles s



H. M. BBEOHER.

FENCE POST. No. 255,714. Patented Mar.28,1882.

UNITED STATES" PATENT Fries.

HENRY M. BEEGHEB, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TOCHARLES S. MERSIOK, OF SAME PLACE.

FENCE-POST.

. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 255,714, dated March28, 1882.

' r Application filed October 1, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY M. BEECHER,

of the city and county of New Haven, and- State of Connecticut, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fence-Posts, of whichthe following is a specification.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of afence-post which embodies my invention, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of tothe same.

I form both the upright A and the feet 13 B of angle-iron. The feet arecurved in opposite directions, and are riveted or otherwise rigidlysecured together,-with the corners of the an- 15 gle-irons toward eachother, as shown. The foot B is formed onthe end of the upright A in oneand the same piece. A portion of one of the flanges of each foot is bentover and out into substantially the same plane as its fellowflange toform the flukes a a. The foregoing construction makes a very inexpensiveand at the same time a light but very strong and rigid post, which willstand firm in the ground on account of being supported in all directionsby the flanges of the angle-irons.

The fiukes a a, it will be seen, are much broader than the width of thefeet and project from the ends thereof, whereby they are in a positionand large enough to furnish great re- 0 sistance to the post beingracked sidewise in the direction which the feet spread. Theflanges ofthe angle-iron, when the iron is curved and placed together with theangular corners of the two feet toward each other, furnish a 5 greatlyincreased hearing or bracing surface to support the post in everypossible direction, while at the same time the groove formed by eachangleiron is open at the top for the whole length of both feet, so as tobe conveniently 4o filled and packed with earth in tamping around them.

1 have herein described the feet of the post as rigidly securedtogether; but, if desired, they might be jointed or hinged, as shown inan- 4 5 other application of mine now before the PatentOffice.Anacceptablepostmightbeformed with the feet made of angle-iron curvedand placed together, as shown and described, but without any portion ofthe flanges turned over to form the broad flat fiukes a a; but a betterpost is produced when the fiukes a a are prescut.

I am aware that prior patents show the use of angle-irons forfence-postswhich are straight throughout their entire length, including the footportion for entering the ground; but so far as I know a curvedangle-iron was never before employed for any part of a fence-post.Neither has any fence-post ever been made or shown havingsupporting-flanges standing in such relation to the foot of the post asthey do in my post.

I am aware that a prior patent shows a divided upright forapost, theparts being hinged together, and each part having a curved but flat footrigidly secured to it, but secured to its companion only by the hinge.Another patent describes and shows two straight bars of iron for forminga post by inserting them into a proper base when in the form of an X,and then bending the upper arms of the X together and binding them toform the upright of the post, while the bottom of the X forms the feetthereof. Another patent shows a post with the footin theform of atapering screw adapted for screwing into the ground. Another patentshows a split tube for the foot of a post. the ends of each splint beingpointed and turned slightly outward, so that the splints would spreadout into a divaricated foot when the split tube was forced into theground. Another patent shows an angle-iron for the straightuprightportion ofapost, butnotfor the foot portion, and without any partof the angleiron being curved; and, finally, another patent shows a postmade of a straight flat bar of iron, with a portion thereof bent offedgewise at an angle, so as to form a straight leg standing obliquelyitothe upright. The lower end was bent flatwise to one side and at rightangles to the upright to form a foot. A like leg with a like foot turnedin the opposite direction was welded to the foot of the upright, all ofwhich prior devices are hereby disclaimed.

I claim as my invention-- 1. A fence-post the foot of which consists oftwo curved pieces of angle-iron standing in opposite directions, withthe corners of the angles facing each other, the parallel flanges offlanges turned over into substantially the same said two pieces beingplaced one upon the other plane as its fellow flange, substantially asdeat their junction and secured together, subscribed, and for thepurpose specified.

-stautially as described, and for the purpose I HENRY M. BEEGHER. 5specified. Witnesses:

2. In al fencc-post, the foot formed of curved J. O. BRADLEY,

angle-iron and having a portion of one of its 1. PARSONS DIOKERMAN.

